The Rock
by Feeney
Summary: It's a brave new world, but there is still something to be said about tradition. (Inspired by the fanart of Tumblr user sherbies)


_Inspired by the beautiful fanart made by Tumblr user 'sherbies' (that I can't link in the story for some reason)._

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><p><strong>The Rock<strong>

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><p>"Can I open my eyes now?"<p>

"No."

"Asami…"

"_No."_

Korra sighed. "You know I trust you more than anyone else in the world, but I am blindfolded and you are steering me into a room that sounds like it's full of chainsaws."

"You've taken me to crazier places," Asami pointed out. That was probably fair.

Korra couldn't see her grin, but she could hear it in her voice. She sounded excited. Thrilled. It had been a while since Asami had been this happy, so Korra gladly went along with it. Single-handedly jump starting the Industrial Revolution had been taking its toll on her.

"Well, after we're done with this chamber of blood and murder, can we get ice cream?"

She felt her long, graceful fingers snake around her waist from behind and pull her close. Asami was never a bender, but she had the hands of one - elegant, quick, and calloused from overuse. They never got as rough as hers, though. She was always lecturing Korra on the advantages of moisturizer. Never as a complaint, it was just one of the many matter-of-fact observations one got from someone as meticulous a perfectionist as Asami. There were never any actual complaints when they used their hands on each other.

Asami pressed up against her back and rested her chin on her shoulder, whispering so that her breath tickled her ear just the way she liked.

"You can take the blindfold off."

"Oh, now? I was kind of hoping this was going in another direction."

"_Korra."_

Korra obediently pulled down the blindfold and had to let Asami gently remove it from her neck. She was too distracted gazing in awe at the loud, whirring machine in front of her.

It was big, but certainly not the biggest thing Asami had ever built, maybe about her own height and just as wide. It was sleek, made of stainless steel, and streamlined to look even smaller. It had the classic Future Industries style, big enough to fit the practical needs of whatever it did, but pretty enough for everyone and their grandmother to covet it. On the back end was a small control stick, a screen, and a slot, maybe big enough for a large coin like the Earth Kingdom used. The front had a small door and a large, clear window that Korra could see through. Inside was a thin platinum arm, tipped with what Korra sensed was a sharp, pointed diamond.

She had no idea what it was.

"Why is it so loud?" she wondered.

"It's a prototype," Asami explained. "I sort of slapped it together over the weekend, so I didn't exactly get a chance to fine-tune it."

Korra stared at the machine's innards through the window. She could see every carefully braided wire, every precisely engineered tube.

"Uh-huh. Sure."

"Normally I would have ironed out all the kinks, before showing you, but I suddenly got this rush of nerve, you know? I couldn't wait. We got up this morning and we had breakfast and you were so beautiful and, well, I couldn't wait."

Korra quirked an eyebrow. Asami was babbling. She never babbled.

"Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath and pulled something from her pocket. Korra took it from her. It was a thin, dark metal disc. The thing was a little over an inch in diameter, but no thicker than the currency used in Republic City. It should have felt more fragile in her hands, but Korra could tell it was strong. Stronger than any other metal she'd come across, maybe. It reminded her vaguely of some of the weighty alloys she'd come across in Zaofu.

"It's metal salvaged from a meteorite. Space rocks. I did some research and it seems to be the same material that made up Toph Bei Fong's legendary bracelet and Chief Sokka's 'space sword'. It can cut through steel like butter if it's sharp enough, that's why it took so long to find Chief Sokka's sword in Wulong forest after he dropped it in that battle. They had to excavate it from thirty feet underground! It's bendable, too. Toph sometimes used her bracelet as a concealable weapon!"

Korra held it up and squinted.

"If we slipped this under one of the legs of our kitchen table, I bet it would stop wobbling!"

Asami snatched the disc from her. "You are _terrible._"

Korra laughed, embracing her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Come on, tell me. What's all this about?"

"Watch." Asami slipped the disc into the slot in the machine and grabbed the control stick. Even over all the whirring and buzzing, Korra could hear the disc sliding through a chute. "Go to the other side, you could watch through the window."

She did as she was told. Through the window she could see the disk was now being held up in a tiny vise that had emerged from the bottom of the machine. The diamond-tipped arm was moving over it, controlled by Asami on the other side.

"That diamond looks really cool. If it wasn't so sharp it would probably look great on you!"

Asami blushed. It took Korra a minute to realize why. In Republic City, betrothal rings boasting large diamonds had become the trend for engaged couples.

"It's not just any diamond. I had to modify it so that it would actually cut through space rock."

"You _invented_ a diamond?!"

"Shhh, that's not the point. Watch."

Korra did. Asami used her control stick to manipulate the arm closer to the disc until its point firmly embedded itself into the metal. Then, it began to move, etching a design into the surface of the disc. Her eyes widened.

"Wow! It's like you're carving - !"

"Shhh…"

Korra recognized what Asami was etching into the top half of the disc. It was a gear, similar to the one found on on the Future Industries logo.

"Hey, that's - !"

"Shhhh."

On the bottom half, Asami was drawing rounded waves, like the symbol of the Water Tribes. The design made it look like the gear was the sun, peeking over the ocean like a sunrise. She realized that this was the exact view they had enjoyed on their first vacation to the Spirit World, when they discovered the spirit beaches. It was the place where they'd shared their first kiss. Their first everything.

"Oooooh, that's the - "

"Korra, would you _shush?_ This is hard, I told you I didn't fine-tune this thing and I don't want to mess up!"

Korra slapped a hand over her mouth. "Okay, shushing!"

She watched in awe as the machine turned the disc over and Asami wrote in her elegant script.

**_K + A_**

That was when it started to dawn on her.

Suddenly the machine punched a tiny hole through the top of the disk and looped a little ring into it. It chugged loudly for a few seconds, during which Asami had to give it a good kick with her boot, and a blue ribbon was threaded through the ring.

Korra's jaw dropped. The vise holding everything in place released and the disc, now a necklace, slid down out of sight. She heard something lightly tap against the tiny door on her side.

"Um, open it," Asami said anxiously.

Her mind was so stunned that she could do nothing else but comply. She opened the door and a drawer popped out. In it lay the most beautiful Water Tribe betrothal necklace she had ever seen in her life.

"You, um, now you can talk. Please." Asami was bright pink and even looked like she was starting to sweat. Korra's mouth was still hanging open in shock. She could feel her tongue going dry, unable to form words.

"I - I - I - "

"I know they're kind of old-fashioned and out of style," Asami blurted. "Lots of people are adopting the whole diamond ring thing now, even the Water Tribes and Air Nomads. I mean, your own mother doesn't even wear her betrothal necklace anymore. I guess it's - "

Her nervousness made Korra finally able to shake off the mental paralysis that had her almost had her swaying in place. She held up a hand to stop her.

"I, okay, wait, let me get this straight," she said. "You excavated a space rock, engineered a diamond, and built a machine up from the ground all just to carve me a _betrothal necklace?_"

"It's not as charming as a regular betrothal necklace carved by hand, I know," Asami fretted. "It's too engineered and manufactured-looking, but I figured, it's a new age, right? Maybe it's time to reinvent something outdated with, I mean, space rocks - "

She was silenced by Korra's lips, pressed against hers. When she released her, she looked utterly bewildered.

"It's perfect. It's_ you_," Korra whispered. "It's _me._"

"Do you...so, you like it?" Asami asked timidly, the pink blush spreading to hear ears and down her neck.

"So much I don't even know how to express - " she paused, then looked up at her slyly. "Unless...do you still have that blindfold?"

"Oh...yes, it's in my - "

"Keep it. Let's go home."


End file.
